The training session on “Auditing Customs Revenues”, organised virtually by the National Audit Office (NAO) in the Kingdom in cooperation with the Arab Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ARABOSAI), kicked off today with the participation of 30 trainees from 14 Arab countries.
The three-day webinar aims to familiarise the participants with audit procedures related to various customs revenues, the nature of their complexity and their link to international agreements and their conformity to regulations by international organisations.
The lectures are presented by Ahmed Buti, Audit Manager, and Abdul Rahman Alhajeri, Senior Auditor, from the Regulatory Audit Directorate of the NAO in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Majeed Ateyya, Assistant Undersecretary – Regularity Audit said, “This training comes at an important time when challenges facing countries are increasing after the Covid-19 pandemic, which requires the Supreme Audit Institutions to play their role efficiently and perform their duties effectively and to the fullest.”
In his welcoming speech addressed to the participants of the training he added, “We hope to exchange knowledge, expertise and experiences that contribute to achieving the supreme goal of the agencies, which is to preserve public money and ensure its proper use in accordance with the laws and regulations.” He stressed that the NAO believed in the importance of these meetings in developing knowledge, refining skills and exchanging experience thus contributing to the development of audit work methodology and mechanisms.
Mr. Ateyya praised the topic of the training and the fruitful cooperation between the NAO and ARABOSAI, wishing success to all in achieving the desired benefit.
Mongi Hammami, General Supervisor of the General Secretariat of ARABOSAI, stressed the importance of such training and its role in enriching audit work. He praised the keenness of the NAO in the Kingdom of Bahrain to enhance cooperation with the organisation and its other members and commended the NAO’s role in the field of training.
Hammami thanked the NAO and Auditor General Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa for the interest and cooperation in the field of training. He also encouraged the participants to benefit from this training and add further effective recommendations to Arab audit work.
The trainers Buti and Alhajeri will focus on two main areas: customs revenue and international customs agreements, and customs revenue audit procedures.
The training will feature a presentation on the origin of customs tax (tariff) and the most important international trade agreements that include clauses related to this tax, such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (the new NAFTA Agreement), the Agreement on the Customs Union of the European Union (EUCU), and the Agreement on Facilitating and Developing Trade Exchange between Arab Countries, The Common Customs System for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
It will also discuss procedures for financial, performance and compliance audit for customs revenues, reasons for imposing customs tax with an overview of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Harmonized Systems Agreement that aims to facilitate trade and exchange of information by coordinating the classification of goods in international trade, and other topics.
It is noteworthy that ARABOSAI is one of the regional organizations accredited by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
Source: Bahrain News Agency